Too many questions for me. I use "hypothesis" loosely to refer to any
supposition that has some evidence in its support. It's not conclusive
at all, but identifying it serves as a way of finding a place to stand
and make things a little less confusing -- even if it winds up being
disproved. I think I'm just paraphrasing the book here.

Harold

On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 8:30 AM, Michele Kemper <> wrote:
> Hello, everyone.
>
> Doing a complete search is just the beginning of evidence analysis. Once you
> have the information, what do you do with it? That is what the next set of
> sections begins to address. The next subsection begins to talk about extracting
> and assessing data from the sources we get information from. We start with
> drawing conclusions and proving them.
>
> Here are a list of the subsections within the Basic Issues:
>
> 1.1 Analysis & Mindset
> 1.2 Completeness of research
> 1.3 Conclusions: hypothesis, theory & proof
> 1.4 Facts vs. assertion or claim
> 1.5 Family-history standards
> 1.6 Levels of confidence
> 1.7 Objectivity
> 1.8 Presentism
> 1.9 Quantity vs. quality
> 1.10 Technical knowledge
> 1.11 Truth
>
> Discussion: 1.3 Conclusions: hypothesis, theory & proof
>
> The books explains there are generally three levels of conclusions that we as
> researchers can come to: hypothesis, theory, proof. For each one of these
> levels, can you provide details on how you define each? What would move your
> conclusions up or down on that spectrum (from hypothesis to theory, from theory
> to proof, etc.)? Do you have any additions to this list of possible conclusions?
> Have you ever been presented with a situation where you could not reach a
> conclusion? Without revealing confidential client details, can you explain that
> situation and what you did in the wake of the evidence?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Michele
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--
Harold Henderson
Research and Writing from NW Indiana
midwestroots.net